Charging Up Excitement for the Industry’s First Electric Backhoe Loader
Generating Buzz for EV Equipment
CASE Construction Equipment wanted to generate buzz for their latest launch: the release of the CASE 580EV, the industry’s first electric backhoe loader. The commercial introduction of this breakthrough innovation, which initially debuted as a concept machine at CONEXPO in 2020, marked the culmination of four years of dedicated design and development and a major milestone in vehicle electrification.
The groundbreaking release was also a crucial addition to CASE’s growing family of electric vehicles. With the CX15EV electric mini excavator and the SL22EV electric small articulated loader already available, plus two additional electric machines poised for commercial release later in the year — the CX25EV mini excavator and the CL36EV compact wheel loader — CASE was set to have a diverse lineup of five EV machines.
To engage the media and spark excitement for the new electric equipment, CASE turned to Godfrey for a wide-reaching trade media PR campaign that would include PR strategy, a virtual press event, editor and influencer outreach and a range of content development. They wanted to tell a compelling narrative that differentiated their EVs as innovative machines purpose-built for optimal EV performance, rather than retrofitted diesel machines. CASE also wanted their EV story to reach a wide range of audiences, from construction professionals and municipal teams to rental companies and utility crews.
CASE collaborated with Godfrey on strategic messaging that would help shape their story and prepare the team for questions from the media. As part of the PR challenge, they wanted to overcome misperceptions about EVs in the construction industry. That meant developing answers to anticipated questions, being clear about where EVs excel, clarifying expectations for EV equipment and differentiating CASE EV machine performance against traditional diesel machinery on the market.
Amping the Media With an Electric Story
Godfrey helped CASE craft an EV story that would resonate with a wide range of editors. Electrification at CASE wasn’t just about retrofitting existing diesel machines, it was about purpose-building machines from day one to be EVs. This enabled a slew of practical innovations that helped CASE EVs deliver performance equivalent to their diesel counterparts, while also delivering on all the benefits of electrification, like low noise and zero emissions. CASE EVs are powerful new tools in the toolbox for efficient work on jobsites with unique demands, and they changed the game for where, when and how crews can get work done.
To get their EV story maximum exposure, Godfrey supported CASE with a broad range of tactics. Godfrey helped to plan an exclusive virtual media event, wrote and developed the full presentation and created a target media list across industries for event attendance and follow-up. The media list included municipal and EV-specific publications that CASE hadn’t worked with before, which resulted in first-time stories with publications and audiences new to CASE. The Godfrey team also handled the broad news distribution and developed a wide range of content that included FAQs, an executive thought-leadership article and a press release with a tracked link to an EV landing page developed by CASE.
Godfrey also handled media relations after the event — following up with editors for EV interviews, influencer outreach, fielding questions, drafting contributed quotes and award submissions and leveraging opportunities to invite editors and influencers to see the equipment firsthand.
Source: Truck & Off-Highway Engineering
A Powerful Media Response
The PR effort quickly generated more than 80 clips of earned media coverage across targeted industries and EV-specific outlets, including 2 video features. Collectively, this coverage reached a potential audience of 20.2 million. A broader news distribution for the launch also resulted in approximately 140 total pickups and reached a potential audience of nearly 62 million.
80+
Clips in targeted industry outlets
140
Additional press release pickups
82M+
Total potential audience reach
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